Kimber

Kimber is a modern name invention typically used as a truncated form of Kimberly. We know this because Kimber first appeared on the American female naming charts in 1988 when Kimberly was the 25th most popular girl’s name in the nation. Aside from Kimber’s usage as a shortened alternative to Kimberly, it has also been used as a semi-rare metronymic surname. In this case Kimber is derived from an Olde English female personal name “Cyneburh” composed of the Germanic Anglo-Saxon elements “cyne” meaning “royal” and “burh” meaning “fortress”. King Penda of Mercia – a 7th century Anglo-Saxon king in England – had a daughter named Cyneburh. Cyneburh of Mercia married the son of her father’s enemy, the King of Northumbria, and converted to Christianity whilst her father remained staunchly faithful to Anglo-Saxon paganism. She went on to found an abbey in Gloucester and was venerated as an English saint in the later Middle Ages (which is why baby girls were named after her). Although Kimber has strong Anglo-Saxon royal and saintly associations vis-à-vis Cyneburh, most people are unaware of this etymology. Kimber is more typically used as an abridged form of the ultra-popular girl’s name Kimberly (although Kimber could easily be considered gender-neutral).